Ammar Abdulhamid

Ammar Abdulhamid is a Syrian author and pro-democracy activist currently based in Silver Spring, Maryland where he arrived with his family as political refugees in September 2005. His recent book, "The Irreverent Activist," a series of brief reflections written over two decades, is now available through Amazon. He also blogs at www.thedailydigestofglobaldelirium.com and is a regular contributor to Lawfare.

For years, Syria’s pro-democracy and human rights activists warned the Obama administration about the impact of its repeated statements that it would not intervene in the Syrian conflict come hell or high water. Now it’s the Trump administration’s turn.

Now that he has established a firm foothold in Syria following 18 months of direct military intervention, Russia’s strongman, Vladimir Putin, has to politically safeguard his gains in order to ensure their long-term consolidation and present the world with a fait accompli.

While the Turkish people at this stage seem to be motivated by a strong sense of identity and a belief in themselves and their homeland (with a commitment to democratic values now being an important element of this homeland) Arabs, even as they exhibit a strong sense of identity themselves, lack confidence in their countries and the institutions of the state.

The issue of compatibility of Islam and modern liberal democratic values keeps on creeping into the public debate following each terrorist attack and each tragic development in the Middle East, and there have been plenty of them over the last few years to ensure that the debate never falls off radar.

It’s no secret at this stage that Saudi Arabia is trying to court Israel as part of its ongoing efforts to contain the perceived Iranian threat in the region, especially in the aftermath of the signing of the Iran Deal and the current American efforts aiming at “disengaging” from the region or, at the very least, minimizing America’s military footprint there.